THE return of fatty foods, a comeback for the garish Del Boy cocktails of the 80s, the rise of robotic chefs and cannabis as the flavouring of choice - these is the fads which experts claim will dominate the future of the food and drink industry.

The Innovation Group - the futurology unit of global marketeers J Walter Thompson Intelligence - say food fads and trends are changing at lightning rate now thanks to digital media and increasingly 'political awareness' about food by consumers.

The big fat comeback

After decades of vilification, fat is once again proving popular - with butter even featuring on a recent front cover of Vogue as the new superfood to watch out for.

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) - Authorities say a man from Richland County died after he choked on a bag of marijuana after a traffic stop.

WIS-TV reports that a review from the prosecutor's office found that Zachary McDaniels died after the bag of marijuana lodged in his throat, cutting off air to his brain. He suffered from a brain injury and cardiac arrest. His family took him off life support on Sept. 6.

The Richland County Sheriff's Office said McDaniels and another man stole a car from a shopping center and deputies tried to pull them over. The men fled on foot, but McDaniels was caught. Authorities say after he was in custody, he started having trouble breathing.

When it comes to regulating a legal recreational marijuana industry, Colorado has largely set the standard. Colorado and Washington legalized marijuana at the same time (2012 Election), but Colorado came up with rules much faster than Washington did, and started recreational marijuana sales faster as a result. I know that Alaska has been looking towards Colorado for guidance on how to implement their marijuana legalization initiative and for industry rules, as I’m sure most other states will do too. Oregon has come up with its own rules, but it’s fair to point out that Oregon tends to usually do things its own way, marijuana or otherwise.

The past decade has witnessed a remarkable transformation in the global debate over drug policy. As recently as the mid-2000s, drug legalization or even decriminalization was a fringe idea, something almost no politician would get near. That’s all changed. That the War on Drugs is a fundamental failure is a widely accepted fact among experts and even policymakers. Multiple nations no longer treat personal drug usage as a criminal problem but rather as one of public health. Many of them are actively considering following Portugal’s successful example of decriminalizing all drugs. The global trend is clearly toward abandoning prohibitionist policies.

Cannabis is not only a plant; it is also an elegant botanical compound. Cannabinoids are naturally occurring compounds in the cannabis plant with many beneficial therapeutic applications. The cannabis plant is also the source of fiber and seeds that have tremendous economic value as raw materials for industrial use, food and personal health products.

Few, if any, readers of HIGH TIMES would disagree with that statement—though many would elaborate on these claims in different ways, emphasizing one or another of the qualities and characteristics of the cannabis plant and its value to themselves and society.

September 11, 2015 – U.S. Cannabis Spot Index up fractionally to $2,133.  The national price may be at—or close to—its seasonal high.

I have met Steve DeAngelo on several occasions. The first was at the 2012 Students for Sensible Drug Policy in Denver, Colorado. Steve had just walked off stage from giving a keynote speech, and since The Weed Blog booth was right by the auditorium, he walked right past Jay Smoker and I. We flagged him down, told him how big of fans we were of his work, and had a long conversation about the future of cannabis. It was a very timely conversation, because later that year Colorado and Washington voted to legalize recreational cannabis, which was something that we talked about that day, about eight months before Election Day 2012.

Homeless and drug addiction service, Merchants Quay Ireland has revealed just how prevalent the homeless crisis is and warned the situation is fuelling the country’s drug problem.

In its annual report, the service revealed they handed out 80,000 meals to the homeless last year; demand for its GP services increased by more than a quarter and it recorded over 24,000 needle exchanges under its intervention programme – 6% more than the year before.

Merchants Quay CEO, Tony Geoghegan said: “We are currently facing unprecedented levels of homelessness that are further exacerbated by, and contributing to, problem drug use.